The present invention relates generally to guns which compress a spring and are operable by the acceleration of air by the spring to fire a projectile, and more particularly to such a gun affording a high degree of safety.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,503, there has recently come into vogue a type of game, mainly for adult participation, based on the theme of survival under war-like conditions. The weapons used in these games are generally pistols which utilize a compressed gas to fire a hollow projectile filled with dye or the like which leaves a mark on the target, whether that target be an inanimate object or a participant in the game, hopefully without any further damage. U.S. Pat. No. 3,788,298 discloses that pistols of this type are used to fire hollow plastic or gelatin balls filled with a liquid such as paint to mark trees in forestry projects and to mark animals in conservation or farming projects. Unfortunately, these guns, like real guns, have evoked an outcry from those who fear damage or mischief as a result of the guns coming into the possession of children or unscrupulous characters. Intemperate of immature users may fail to observe the niceties of where the gun should be aimed (for example, to avoid the projectile hitting people in the eye), fire the gun inadvertently (because the safety mechanism has been left in the enabling position), or use the gun to fire projectiles other than the intended ones (by inserting substitute projectiles into the front or rear end of the barrel so that when the gun is fired the substitute projectile is propelled forward by the compressed air, either instead of or along with the intended projectile). Even in the hands of responsible adults, however, such guns can cause injury where they are misaimed or where the intended projectile is fired without the housing being properly sealed so that the dye or paint can spray back out of the housing and onto the person firing the gun.
For any one or more of the foregoing reasons, guns of this type may be deprecated by parents, law enforcement officers, municipalities and the like, with many parents and at least some municipalities expressing their disfavor by seeking bans on at least certain types of these guns.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an air gun which does not have the foregoing failings.
Another object is to provide such a gun which cannot be inadvertently fired.
Still another object is to provide such a gun which cannot be operated by the small hands of young children.
A further object is to provide such a gun which cannot be fired when the housing is not sealed against backfiring on the user.
It is also an object to provide such a gun in which objects other than the intended projectiles cannot be inserted into the barrel from either end thereof.
It is another object to provide such a gun which utilizes a projectile-carrying magazine which resists loading with unintended simulated projectiles.
It is a further object to provide such a gun which is of rugged and economical construction, yet easy to manufacture and maintain.